Sweden-Denmark

Concept Note on

Developing Child Led Indicators

1. Background and Rationale

The ultimate aim of child rights programming is to bring about improvements in children’s lives and wellbeing. Monitoring is a means for gauging such improvements and is, therefore, a key aspect of child rights programming. Within a Law-Enforcement approach to child rights programming, the collection and dissemination of data about unfulfilled child rights and child rights violations is a means to put pressure on duty bearers (that is to say, states) to meet their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights. An Evidence-Based approach, in which participation by children, their families and communities is meaningfully achieved, may also yield data about unfulfilled rights and violations. In addition, it is intended to create the space for stakeholders to articulate their aspirations and to offer their assessment of changes achieved through programmatic activities.

A participatory approach to monitoring and evaluation also offers opportunities for children’s personal and social development. Experiences gained from the Child Rights Monitoring Review process in 2004 have shown that participation in the actual process of monitoring can make a big difference to children in terms of their abilities, self-confidence, independent decision-making and problem solving skills etc, (as noted in Section 2) aside from the learning and accountability that it promotes. In this way, children’s active involvement in monitoring has the potential for bringing about social transformation.

1.2 Children’s Participation: Two key reasons for pursuing a participatory approach to monitoring are:

  • In CRC it has addressed that any agency committed to rights-based approaches to child-focussed programming is therefore obliged to pursue the participation of children in all aspects of project work, including M&E activities.
  • Participation as a means to achieve other rights of children. Participation enhances Children’s confidence and skills, empower them to take positive action for the realisation of their rights. It provides the opportunity for children to voice their experiences, concerns and aspirations, thereby inviting support for the greater realisation of their rights from adults in the family, community and agency.

In addition to the direct connection with child rights in a specific sense, there are further reasons why a participatory approach to M&E may enhance children’s lives: Project effectiveness, Personal development and Ownership.

1.3 Identifying indicators is an integral part of the Monitoring & Evaluation cycle. The procedures and principles for developing M& E indicators are not always clear or straightforward in practice (Estrella & Gaventa, 2004). If child participation is a principle, their involving in monitoring and evaluation are inevitable. So, child led indicator is the starting point to make children participated in the M&E cycle.

1.4 Childwatch International’s Indicators for Monitoring Rights project undertook to find indicators for every right included in the instrument, the intention being that they should be applicable throughout the world. To this end, case studies were carried out in a number of countries. Amongst the project’s conclusions was the need to start the process of defining internationally applicable indicators from the ‘bottom up’, by exploring what rights meant in practice in different countries and then establishing a system for monitoring their realisation / violation, before trying to pool them with a view to creating global standards.

1.5 Child led Indicator development is not merely an exercise rather it requires involvement of all stakeholders. It requires a strong innovative and adaptive technique of flexible accumulation of learning. It is assumed that child participation is the means to achieve the goal of search out child led indicator. To formulate a child led indicator, thus, a systematic investigation is required. This document is the first step to make a way out to find the conduit.

2. Goals and Objectives:

The goal of the Child led indicator is to include, empower and ensure active participation of children in the monitoring and evaluation system.

However, the objective of the proposed exercise is

  • Monitor the impact of the project from children’s perception
  • To know the existing practices on children’s involvement in the monitoring process and to identify the current state of practices on methodology and tools in this regard.
  • To identify the process of indicator development of what kind of changes children are interested in the perspective of child rights Programming and Global Impact monitoring.

3. Methodology:

3.1 SCUK carried out exercises with children in South India on how to proceed with developing indicators. In the report it has written:

“We cannot have indicators that are developed by log-frames and operational plans. Children reject them as these respond only to organisational needs. […] Instead we work with children to demystify children’s rights and encourage children to identify what rights they would like to have. These are then grouped as indicators” (Padmavathi 2003:3).

3.2 Global ideas about rights need to be translated into local issues if they are to have any meaning or relevance at all for the project participants. Asking children what rights they would like to have comes after a process of explaining what rights are and exploring what they mean to children locally. In Nepal, Development FOCUS International also used dreams with children to develop indicators and discuss obstacles to their rights. Children then considered steps and ‘helping hands’ towards overcoming the obstacles (2001: 24-28).

3.3 Based on the experience describe above, the indicator development process would be carried out by content analysis and exercise. The philosophy is to build on the past achievements. The content analysis will try to explore the existing practices and knowledge on Child led indicators and would drawn a simple framework of gaps in involving children in indicator development process.

3.4 The involvement of partner is crucial because of the Capacity Building and Sustainability of the process and furthering it in programme cycle. Partner will be involved in the initial stage of the process.The M&E focal person of the partner will be in the working team.

3.5 The child led indicator development process thus will include at least two partners: one from Rural and another from urban context. The rural partner might be NARI MAITREES CC project in Netrokrona. The urban partner might be CPD or SUF. However, a close contact with INCIDIN would be maintained as it possesses their own way of interest in this regard.

3.6 A working team combined of SCSD and Partners will carry out the process under the close supervision of Programme Manager, SCSD. Thus the team is as follows:

  1. Programme Officer: M&E, MIS; SCSD
  2. Programme Officer: CRP, SCSD
  3. Programme Officer:Child led Organization and Advocacy on Child labour
  4. Representative from partner, M&E Focal person (Rural)
  5. Representative from partner, M&E Focal person (Urban)

The team, thus, will work closely with the Coordinators and with the concerned Programme Officer.

3.7 The framework of involving children would ensure their lead in the process of developing and designing the project. The process of developing LFA is linked with the process of developing indicator. The LFA framework thus would rethink and redesign for making it child friendly using effective tools and techniques. The working group (on the first meeting held on 15 May) agreed on to work on the LFA framework and make it as a part of indicator development procedure. The simplified process might be as follows:

  1. Situation and stakeholder analysis
  2. Problem Issue identification
  3. Core problem identification
  4. Analysis of the problem and find out cause effect relations
  5. Find out a situation where the problems do not exist...
  6. Setting the indicators by the children.
  7. Note: this is very first discussion, the working team will have more attention in this regard.

3.8 A process and timeline has been identified in the working group to carry forward and conduct the process. This is as follows:

Step / Task / Responsibility / Time line
1 / Inclusion of partner, Finalization of objective / SCSD working Group / By May 30, 2006
2 / Literature Survey & Tools-Method Mapping / Working group and Programme officers of SCSD / By June 15, 2006
3 / Review the tools and methods (based on objective and approach) and starting the field testing / Working Group and CLI-CLO team / By June 25, 2006
4 / Design tools and technique and prepare a guideline for piloting / Working group and programme personnel of SCSD / By July 15, 2006
5 / In-house preparation and Sharing / Working team / By July 20, 2006
6 / Start of the piloting at partner level. / Partner’s project team, Working group, concerned programme officer of the partner. / July 27, 2006

3.9 Process documentation will be conducted to find out learning, best practices and detect the way forward. Programme Officer: M&E, MIS; SCSD would coordinate the process.

4. Major Tasks:

1)Review of literature and find out the past achievements and learning.

2)Mapping out the methodology and tools to explore existing practice.

3)Review and find out methodology-tools and testing in the field.

4)Prepare a conceptual framework and guideline for developing child led indicators.

5)Piloting the process in the field.

6)Find out the gaps, adopt the best ways and learn the best practices throughout the process.

7)Share the adapted framework at different level.

5. Expected Results

The process would bring out a framework of developing child led indicator and incorporate in project matrix. Children would actively be involved in the M&E process as well as project planning process.. The indicator development thus will contribute in the whole M&E system as children would measure, analyse and use the result for their expected situation. This exercise would come out with the framework of learning and way forward of child participation in project cycle.

This process would come up with appropriate tools and techniques to involve children in the M&E system especially in developing Indicator.

6. Next Steps:

Successful completion of this process might lead us to a wider learning approach. The process of indicator development would be shared among partners and SCSD network; i.e. among alliance and global network. A workshop with partners and SCSD might organize to share and learn about the process. The outcome would then be shared with SCSD region for further analysis and development. Being recognized of the process, SCSD then would introduce it in its project/programme cycle.

It is assumed that the learning could be incorporated in the next project development system of the partners.

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Concept note_2ND Draft_24 May, 2006 _M&E_SCSD